Holy Troublemakers and Everyday Saints

A Minister's Message from Rev. Dr. Chris Shorow, Senior Minister cshorow@fccedmond.org | 405.341.3544

Every generation needs its own holy troublemakers, people whose faith refuses to stay quiet in the face of suffering or injustice. The phrase “holy troublemaker” was first coined by Bayard Rustin (himself a holy troublemaker!), who said, “We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers.” Amen.

This month, we’re bringing back one of the most talked-about series from last year, Holy Troublemakers & Everyday Saints. This series struck a chord with so many of us because we long to see faith expressed through courage, compassion, and love that makes a difference in the world.

We’ll explore faith through ordinary people who dared to love boldly, question deeply, and live compassionately, sometimes by standing up and speaking out, and sometimes by serving quietly behind the scenes. Holy troublemaking, after all, can be loud and bold or quiet and contemplative, like a poem, a song, or a painting. Each week will feature a saint or “troublemaker” from Scripture alongside a contemporary voice who shows what courageous faith looks like today.

At its heart, holy troublemaking is about participating in God’s work of renewal, disrupting systems that harm and nurturing communities where all can flourish. Changing systems that hurt others does not come easily. It takes courage, imagination, and trust that resurrection always follows resistance. Like Jesus, we find God with us as we stand in solidarity with those who are excluded or dismissed. And there, in that sacred company, resurrection begins to take root.

This kind of redemptive, justice-oriented work is vital in a world that feels increasingly divided, where compassion is dismissed as weakness and understanding grows rare.
We cannot do everything, but each of us can do something  that changes our world for good.

It is fitting that we begin this journey on All Saints  Sunday, a day to remember the beloved ones who have gone before us in faith. Their lives, and those of the everyday saints we will highlight, remind us that God’s bigger story of redemption and grace is still being  written through all of us.

So join us for Holy Troublemakers and Everyday Saints and be inspired by stories of saints you may have never heard of. Then see how your own faith, lived with courage and compassion, joins the great cloud of witnesses who remind us what love can do.